The Forest To The Tree
by lookslikeajobforthewinchesters
Summary: A fight broke the seemingly solid relationship between Edward and Bella forty years ago, causing Edward to leave her behind. Now, both are back in Forks, if only for tragic reasons. Oneshot, Edward and Bella.
1. Chapter 1

I looked around my house, the one I had moved into when I was only seventeen years old

**The Forest To The Tree**

I looked around my house, the one I had moved into when I was only seventeen years old. The furniture was still the same, dusty from lack of cleaning. I had missed this place, missed the memories it held for me.

I had just come back from Charlie's funeral, stopping by to write my name on the bottom of those papers that would make this house my own. I had suspected it would be mine now, so I had brought all my luggage. Everything I owned, which wasn't much, was packed into my five suitcases that now sat at the bottom of the stairs leading up to my old bedroom.

Charlie, my father, had died just last week. A heart attack, a red-headed doctor told me. From eating too much fast food and bacon. I laughed quietly at the thought. Imagine Charlie Swan eating fast food! Hadn't he lived off bacon and eggs for the sixteen years between my mother moving out and my moving in?

Shaking my head sadly, I walked into the living room to see the same paneling on the walls and the same old television that had graced that old coffee table for many years before I had come to live here. Even the chair I had pictures of him sitting in, holding me as an infant, was still there in the corner. His car keys were still sitting on the table beside it, an empty beer can accompanying them on their lonesome resting place.

Oh, Charlie. Why hadn't you simply eaten healthier? Of course, the old man was about to reach his 79th birthday, but did that really account for anything? Renée was nearly eighty and still in wonderful health. I myself was sixty this September! Had I not given up on sport that involved agility, only to start swimming, weight training and yoga?

Slowly, I walked up the polished wooden stairs that led to my bedroom. Even now, I had horrible balance and these slippery stairs were not here to help me keep my footing. I had fallen down them countless times as a teenager. I rounded the corner that the bathroom wall ended and the bedroom ones began. Carefully, I pushed open my bedroom door to reveal the exact room I had left forty-one years ago.

The lace curtains were yellowed slightly more and the rocking chair in the corner had decades of dust sitting on its rungs. My bed, it seemed, hadn't been touched in years. Had Charlie's old age gotten the better of him? Had changing the beds been too much? When I pulled back the quilt that lay atop my mattress, I saw that was not the case at all. The sheets were still torn from the night that had changed my life for the worse.

"_Bella!" Edward's voice reprimanded sternly. "Stop it! This is silly and you know it! It shouldn't matter anymore!"_

"_How is my pain silly, Edward? I don't understand." My eyes were angry, though my voice kept calm. Inside, I was raging with fury. How many times did I have to explain this to him?_

"_It's not about your pain, Isabella. It's about the fact that it's not my, your fiancé's, name that comes exploding from your lips every night! It's that vile werewolf's!" He shouted, slamming his fist down on his knee to express his anger. It made a loud _crack _and startled me slightly. My hands were shaking with fear and irritation. How thick was his skull, exactly?_

"_It's not like that, Edward! I only dream about him because he's my friend! Every time I close my eyes, I see him being crushed by that horrible vampire! Don't you remember that? The time he was almost killed?" I asked, finally shouting back at him. I could feel the muscles in my neck straining with the effort it took to give my voice that much volume. "Or does it not matter to you anymore? Does my pain mean nothing? Because it sure as hell seems that way!"_

"_No, Isabella! It means everything to me, but that's just it! You mean the world to me, but every time your eyes close, it's him you see, not me! I'm beginning to wonder just how important _I_ am to _you_!"_

"_You mean everything to me!"_

"_Prove it!" He roared, his hand coming down with a loud ripping sound on my sheets. I looked down to see the tear he had made on my favourite set of silk sheets._

"_I can't because you won't let me!" I screamed, slamming my hand on my bed repeatedly. I stood and stormed over to the door. "I just don't know anymore, Edward. I don't know."_

"_Don't know what?" He asked, his voice quieting. The anger slid from his face to be replaced by shock and fear._

"_I don't know how we've made it this far. All we do is argue. All you think is that I'm not being faithful. All I think is that you simply don't want me to be faithful. I think you want a reason to leave." My throat felt slightly to big to fit inside my neck right then. Tears were making it too hard to contain my sadness. "I'm not stopping you, Edward. If you want to leave, then go. I don't want you here if you don't want to be."_

_His expression was hurt, but only for a second. Nervously, he stood from my bed and walked towards me. When he was not an inch away, his hands came to rest on my shoulders gently. I shivered at their coldness. It had been a long time since I felt his hands touching me willingly._

"_I'll miss you, Isabella." He whispered, leaning down to kiss me one last time. It was soft and tender, sad almost. It brought tears to my eyes, knowing I would never feel their hard coolness against my skin again. He hugged me close to him, resting a cheek upon my head._

"_I'll miss you, Edward. I'll never forget you."_

_And he walked out my door for the last time. Forever._

I couldn't stop the tears, not even now, that came to my eyes as I remembered the horrible fight on the eve of our wedding. I had woken up, screaming Jacob's name again the night. It was true, though, that I saw him being ripped apart by that horrible newborn every time my eyes shut. I didn't now. I saw Edward's face, hard and cold, as he left me.

I sat down on my old bed, running my hands over that soft fabric that had been maimed during our argument. I could almost feel his touch still lingering on it. Not a day went by that I didn't think I heard his voice, calling me back to him. Back to here.

Coming back here had been fulfilling. I had known that, even if the house was not left to me, I would still stay. I would stay with the Newton family if I had to, until I found a place to stay. I would have bought the Cullen house, if I'd had the money. Just being here reminded me of his face, his velvety voice, gentle touch. It reminded me of when things were good between us.

Sniffing quietly, I sat up and walked towards my door, standing in the place I had when he brushed past me to leave. Even now, the feel of his cold body remained on mine. I laughed, wondering how I could possibly be in love with a man in a seventeen year old body at the age of fifty-nine. Wasn't that slightly wrong? Illegal, perhaps?

I moved to the bathroom, envisioning my best friend dancing around it happily while I glared at her, grumpy, from my seat in front of the mirror. Alice had always loved forcing me to do what she wished. Anything, from dress up to a quick-and-dirty rescue mission in Italy. I really hated having my make up done. And my hair. And my nails. Still, I couldn't stand being pampered. It reminded me of Alice too much. Oh, how I missed her little pixie laugh.

The sight of the empty countertop made me sad. Alice would be horrified if there was nothing to do with beauty products laying around in there. I dug under the vanity, searching for anything I might have left behind to forget her. Smiling, I pulled out an old copy of Vogue and flopped it on the countertop. That should make her happy, wherever she was.

Silently, I shuffled down the hallway, stopping in front of an old mirror, the one Rosalie had given me for Christmas when I was eighteen. It was dusty now, and old looking. It was still, of course, beautiful. Everything Rosalie purchased was beautiful forever. But the dirt brought tears to my eyes. I ran to the bathroom, grabbing a washcloth and wetting it. I scrubbed that mirror until it shone again, just like my sister always had. Perfect.

There were old war posters still on my walls. Jasper's doing, of course. He told he I would always need to remember the great things our country had done and strongly believed that posters of our victories would do it best. Pictures of the US troops filled my walls. I even had an old WW II poster hanging above my bed. Where he had found those, I would never know. I didn't feel the need to, either. It was Jasper. That's all I needed.

I sat down on the stairs, wondering where my X Box might be. Emmett had thought that to be the most hilarious joke ever, giving me a contraption where getting killed was the thing you tried to avoid, not have happen. It made me think about how much I missed his strong, almost beastly hugs. Being thrown over his shoulder was a funny highlight of my earlier days.

I felt that rumbling in my stomach, the one I had come so close to losing four decades ago, and made my way downstairs to search the cupboards for something to eat. I soon realized that there was little there, but I would have to deal with it tonight. All the stores were closed by now, at nearly midnight. I made myself a bowl of soup from the only can left and fell asleep clutching the torn sheet on my bed not a half hour later, my dreams littered with images of a handsome angel named Edward Cullen.

OoOoO

I wandered through the grocery store, trailing behind Esme in boredom. Of course, she insisted I go shopping with her. I really had no idea why I should need to do so, but I imagine she simply wanted company. It wasn't as though we really needed food, though. We didn't have anyone to eat it. Not anymore.

"Edward, dear." She asked softly, her hand resting on my arm gently as I gazed at the frozen pineapple pizzas. Bella had loved pineapple pizza. Disgusting, yes, but so utterly Bella. God, I missed her.

"Yes, Esme?" I answered, doing my best to sound chipper. I didn't meet her eyes. She would know in an instant. Damn that mother's intuition. She set down a package of ground beef into her cart and turned to me.

"I know this is going to be hard, darling. Being back here." She said quietly. I could tell she was holding back her tears of venom carefully. "I just want you to know we all love you and you can talk to any one of us if you need to. We're all here if you need us."

"Thank you, Esme." I replied sincerely. It was nice, knowing that I had someone to turn to if things should get to be too much. She gave me a brief hug, patting my back tenderly. I kissed her cheek in return.

"I love you, my son."

"I love you, too, mum." I turned away casually, fighting the urge to cry. I found that crying had become quite the common thing at times. When I thought of Bella, mostly. I heard the heartbeat of a human behind us before I smelled it. Whipping around quickly, though not overly so, I breathed in a scent that hadn't tortured my heart in nearly forty years. That wonderful smell of freesias.

I seemed to have startled the old woman who was gazing at the frozen pizzas with an almost sad expression. Curious, I let my mind wander towards hers, wondering what could be troubling her. Nothing. I was met with nothing. How strange.

This situation was far too odd for me. An old woman, here in Forks, looking at frozen pineapple pizzas and I couldn't access her mind. No, it wasn't possible. Bella had moved to California after I left. I had heard it from Charlie himself the night I went back for her. The night after our fight.

Cautiously, I walked towards her. She didn't seem to notice my presence at all, her mind lost in the pineapple pizzas. I smiled at the memory of trying that pineapple pizza for Bella so many years ago. Vile, it was.

Oh, she really did smell so wonderful. Older, sadder, perhaps, than Bella had, but so much the same. And the incredible beauty in her features was still stunning. Had an old woman ever been so gorgeous? She didn't look old, in fact. Her hair was a dark grey, yes, but her skin was still nearly perfect. She had those little wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and a little worry line between her perfect brows, but nothing besides that. She was slim, too. Firmer than an old woman she be. Her hair was the only sign of her age, besides the tiny shake of her hands.

When she finally did look up, her face was shocked, then horrified, then carefully composed. I smiled at her and one hand covered her mouth in shock. Those eyes…so perfectly brown…so warm and loving upon the face she had never before seen in her entire lifetime. She smiled back, shakily, and blushed a bright red. I could see the internal argument she was having with herself. _Idiot, he's just a boy…I'm too old for him._

I couldn't hear it for myself, though, and that irritated me. It must have shown on my face, for she looked surprised, then hurt and continued on her way. _Damn it, Cullen. Could you not have been a bit more polite?_ I hurried off after Esme and met her at the cash register, paying several hundred dollars simply to 'fit in'. I wondered if she had noticed that we were too pale, beautiful and brilliant to really fit in anywhere.

I just didn't have the heart to tell her.

As I picked up several of Esme's shopping bags, being polite even though she had a cart to push them in easily, I noticed the old woman paying for her groceries right beside us. I set the bags back into Esme's cart and watched the woman for a moment. I noticed her buying a box of cereal, the very kind I had asked if Bella enjoyed or not. Her answer? _Well, it's not irritable grizzly…_

Smiling to myself, I nodded to the woman to let Esme know where I would be for the next few minutes. She smiled and patted my cheek lovingly, murmuring something about how sweet I was, helping and old woman with her groceries.

I picked up all of the groceries the woman had bought and smiled at her indignant expression. She put her hands on her hips, just like my Bella had always done.

"Don't you make off with my groceries, you hear, young man." She said sternly. I chuckled to myself and watched the stubborn expression on her face.

"No worries, ma'am. I'm just helping out."

"You had better be…" She warned, paying for her purchases and walking out of the store swiftly, beckoning with her right hand over her shoulder. I followed, amused at her attitude towards my help. Stubborn woman, wasn't she? Not admitting she would enjoy help simply because it made her feel old?

When we reached her car, my stomach lurched. It was a police cruiser. Thoughts ran through my mind at an alarming pace. Charlie Swan was police chief in Forks, was he not? He was also Bella's father. Could she, by some strange coincidence, be visiting him here and driving his car to buy the groceries? No, Cullen. Stop being so easily fooled.

I piled the grocery bags inside her car, closing the trunk with a slight slam. She smiled at me and patted my arm, her warm fingers resting on my cold skin a second longer than a general pat required. Odd.

I turned and walked back to Esme's car, sliding in beside her. I didn't speak the whole way home and I continued on with my silence for the next several days. How I wished I had never walked out of my Bella's door.

OoOoO

I cried myself to sleep that night, the day I got home from buying groceries. Edward Cullen had carried my groceries out to Charlie's police car, not giving the slightest sign of recognition. Had I really gotten that old? Old enough to have changed completely? I liked to think that I still looked the same as I did when I was thirty, but perhaps that wasn't the case.

Or perhaps he hadn't wanted to recognize me. Perhaps he was very serious about us not meeting again. He was as wonderfully beautiful as he had ever been, looking devilishly handsome in his black shirt and jeans. Perfection was redefined every time he walked outside.

My dreams that night were not pleasant. They were not filled with images of our happy times. They were filled with horror. My horror, as I realized he hated me for breaking up with him.

"_Edward…" I sighed as I ran towards him. I launched myself into his arms and he caught me, holding me close. "I've missed you so much."_

"_I'm sure you have." He growled. I looked up, surprised, to see the hatred in his eyes. "You've hurt me, Isabella. I'm going to hurt you like you did to me."_

_His teeth sank into my neck and he drank thirstily. It was just the same as when James had bitten me, though much, much worse because he was not being careful at all. He was being vicious and it hurt me. I screamed, but my voice was drowned out by his family's laughter. I had hurt them all. It was their turn to hurt me._

I woke up, screaming. When I determined that the dream was only a dream, I lay back onto my pillows. Silly old woman, I thought. You're fifty-nine years old and still you wake up screaming because of dreams about those you love. Saddened, I stood from my bed, noticing the sky was light already. My clock read nine o'clock.

I chose to take a walk, a nice long stroll after my morning shower. My yoga instructor would be proud that I had kept up my daily exercise routine when I was away. If I had known Edward Cullen was back in Forks, I never would have come home. California was much safer for me. The sun was always shining there.

As I walked, I dwelled on more times in which Edward and I had been completely in love. Completely meaning reciprocated. I loved him still, but he didn't so much as recognize me in a grocery store now. As I popped out of another daydream, I found my feet had carried me the six miles to the Cullens' house. How ironic that I would end up here. Looking up the drive, I noticed Alice bouncing around the living room excitedly.

I broke down into tears, watching their house and the events going on inside of it. Rosalie came running out of the bathroom and into the living room at an angry pace and began smacking Emmett with her magazine. He was laughing loudly, so loudly I could almost hear it. Carlisle shook his head and moved his newspaper out of the way as Alice came tumbling into his lap in a mad laughing fit after Jasper had tickled her. There was Esme, walking around with her oven mitts on, though she never actually managed to make something worth eating, the poor girl. And Edward.

He was sitting in the corner at his piano, running his hands over the keys softly, as loving as if they were old friends. He picked a random note and the tension of his shoulders lessened. His fingers began to move over the keys rapidly, pressing them into a song. Everyone stopped playing around, freezing at the sound of his music. Alice's hands covered her mouth in despair and Rosalie looked down sadly. Emmett's smile lessened drastically and Esme ran out of the living room. Poor Carlisle's newspaper was ripped in his hands as he concentrated on it with determination. Jasper made no movements and his shoulders were tense and worried.

I wondered what he could possibly be playing that would make them react that way. Had something happened while I was gone? Had a tragedy struck the family I loved so much? The tears stopped instantly and I gazed in with worry.

Suddenly, Esme came back into the room, looking out the window. Her gaze fell on my fragile, old form and her face lit up. She turned and looked over her shoulder at her family before rushing out of the room. I wondered where she had gone to when the front door burst open and she came dancing out onto the lawn, waving happily.

"Hello, ma'am!" She called. "Would you like to come in for some tea? You must have had quite the walk to get all the way out here!"

I laughed at her sweet offer, thinking about how completely Esme that was. Had anyone else noticed the old woman watching them from afar?

"I would love to." I replied. Anything to see my old family once again. I was quite sure none of them would realize who I truly was. I made my way across the lawn and met Esme, who shook my hand and welcomed me inside graciously.

"Carlisle, kids! We have a visitor!" She called happily. I watched in amusement as she bustled into the kitchen to make some tea. "What would you take in it, dear?"

"Just milk, please." I said softly. I was greeted by a bombardment of excited teens as I rounded the familiar corner into the Cullen living room. Alice came at me first, bouncing and excited.

"Hello! My name is Alice. It's lovely to meet you." She grinned, shaking my hand enthusiastically. I realized I would have to give a name sooner or later.

"Izzy. Izzy Dwyer." I replied, smiling at Alice's happy expression. A look of recognition came over her features.

"Are you by any chance related to Phil Dwyer?" Damn you vampires and your amazing memory. Beside us, Edward tensed.

"Alice." He warned. He looked up at me with a forcefully polite expression. "I'm Edward, by the way."

"Ah, yes. The lovely young man who helped me with my groceries yesterday. How nice to meet you formally." I managed, smiling weakly. Oh, my Edward. See me for who I really am, _please_. He chuckled and nodded his acknowledgement.

"Sup? I'm Emmett." My biggest brother made his way over to me, shaking my hand with a firm grip. I smiled at his introduction.

"Now, Emmett, be polite." Esme scolded as she came back into the living room, wearing the biggest smile I remembered seeing on her. She handed me a cup of tea with just the right amount of milk. I smiled my thanks and she guided me to the rocking chair beside Edward's place on the piano.

"Sorry, mom."

"Thank you, dear."

"Are these your children? Please tell me where you find your beauty products." I laughed, knowing her only beauty product was a tube of mascara. She laughed along with me and sat beside me, on the edge of Carlisle's chair.

"Actually, they're all adopted." She began. "Rosalie and Jasper, here, are twins. My sister's children. She was killed a few years ago, in an automobile accident with her husband."

Her eyes turned sad as the moved towards Jasper and Rosalie. I had forgotten how good they were at acting and found myself nearly convinced by her cheerless tone.

"And Emmett, he's only boarding with us until he can find a place of his own. He's a son of Carlisle's cousin's. And Alice and Edward are brother and sister, adopted from England. The like the rainy weather, so we moved here for them." Judging by the angry look on Edward's face, it was _not_ his idea to come back here at all. By the excited look on Alice's as she stared out the window, it was hers.

"Emmett's looking for a place? Really? Somewhere close?" I asked, seizing this opportunity. Even if I was giving it to my family, at least I would be giving it away. Esme nodded and Emmett's eyes took on a more interested look. "I'm selling my place, actually. I've recently inherited it, but I'm heading back to California next week."

"Really?" Emmett asked, looking intrigued. "In town?"

"No, not quite. It's 54 Jones Lane." I said, Edward's hands hit the piano keys swiftly and his gaze whipped up to meet mine. He stayed silent, though.

"Isn't that Chief Swan's old place?" Alice asked, her voice suddenly nervous. I nodded and she looked heartbroken. "Has he gone into a nursing home, then?"

"No, actually. He passed away last week. Heart failure. I'm the only family he's got left, so I inherited it. I don't want it, though."

"You're his only family?" Edward suddenly asked, his voice tense and horrified. I looked at him, wishing I could tell him the truth.

"Yes."

"No." It was Rosalie who spoke this time, finally breaking her silence. I looked at her, surprised. Her eyes were scared and tearful. "I – I mean, he has a daughter. And…and an ex-wife."

"Hmm." I said, looking down at my tea cup, my eyes tight. "I suppose he did."

The silence following my accidental confession was tense and dismayed. I couldn't bear to look at any of them for fear that they might see my secret. Nothing happened, so I looked up from my tea cup to meet Alice's sad little eyes.

"Do you play the piano?" I asked Edward, whose fingers were once again brushing over the keys lovingly. He bowed his head in the positive answer and touched his papers lovingly.

"A bit." He answered softly. "Not much for a long time, though."

"Why is that?" I asked, aghast that he could manage to abandon something so wonderfully a part of him. A tear, one of venom, escaped his golden eyes and slipped onto his hand.

"I miss her." He whispered. Alice was suddenly at his side, drawing his sagging shoulders into a warm hug. She kissed his temple and I looked away as her lower lip quivered.

"So do we, Edward. We do."

They held each other for a long while, the rest of us looking away and avoiding eye contact with anyone. Finally, Alice's arms retreated and Edward looked at me forlornly.

"Would you like me to play?"

My heart soared at the opportunity to hear his fingers weave notes into art once again. Nodding, I leaned closer to his arm to watch as his fingers moved across the keys, dancing almost. I could feel a smile growing on my face as I hummed along with the familiar tune that flowed from his touch. My eyes closed as I unconsciously began to sing the lyrics he had written for my eighteenth birthday. It was my lullaby.

Abruptly, his music stopped and I opened my eyes to see him watching me. His eyes were scared, angry that I knew those lyrics. I reached for his shoulder, moving to pat his arm in comfort when he jumped away from me.

"She told you." He whispered. "She promised she would never show anyone."

My eyes closed and I heaved a breath, feeling older than I had in a long time.

"No, Edward. Bella hasn't broken any promise she made to you."

He sank onto the floor, hands resting on his knees, drawn up towards his chest. It took several minutes for my words to sink into any of their hearts. Alice was the first one to really grasp it.

"You haven't?" She asked softly. I shook my head.

"No, I haven't."

A sob escaped Edward's lips and his head fell into his crossed arms in defeat. Sitting on the floor, curled up so weakly, I couldn't help but begin to cry. I stood slowly and walked beside him, sitting down next to his crumbling form.

"I love you, Edward." I whispered. His tearstained face turned towards me, arms drawing me into a compassionate hug. His lips pressed against my temple lightly.

"The forest to the tree, my love."


	2. Author's Note

Hey y'all,

I was just sitting at my computer, looking at the response I got to _The Forest To The Tree_ and thought, 'hey! I should write another chapter!'.

Maybe I'll write an epilogue. How's that sound? Let me know.

_Carlisle Cullen Rocks My World_

_CCRMW_

Also, check out the poem I co-authored with _CranberryLemonAppleZingerChica_. It's called Wedding. I think you'll like it, if you liked this. It's romantic and sweet, too.


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